The Best Rated Photo Editing Software

The Best Rated Photo Editing Software

If you just bought your camera and made your first pictures, you probably want to edit them as well. Photoshop cc and Lightroom are the best no doubt about that, but also the most expensive ones. If you just want to get started, you might be just happy with some free solutions. So, I want to show you the top 4 of the best-rated photo editing software available for free. As well as Photoshop, so you can compare them with each other and get the best program for you.

Adobe Photoshop CC

Photoshop cc is the best tool to edit photos obviously. It has the most features, the best tools, the best algorithms and whatever you want to do to your picture you are going to be able to do it. There are only two problems with it.

Skill

To be able to do what you want with your picture you need to know how. In Photoshop there are so many buttons and possibility that you need to read or watch tutorials to know how to get somewhere with it. You can find tutorials everywhere for free or paid and even on my site soon.😊 You just need to learn a little bit.

The Freaking Price.

Photoshop cc costs you at Adobe 19.99$ a month sounds a little expensive? Well, we are not finished yet you can only buy it in a year subscription so 19.99$ x 12=239.88$ for a year. Expensive! But still not finished yet. You can cancel your subscription before it ends so it stops when the year is over. However, if you don’t do that Adobe is going to continue your subscription (AWESOME) and you are going to pay another 239.88$.

Adobe

But if you still want Photoshop (like me) because it is by far best-rated photo editing software, the question is how do I get around this scam method. Go to Amazon here and buy the photoshop and lightroom prepaid activation code from the Adobe store for 119.88$. This way you have Lightroom and Photoshop for a year and they don’t have your credit card information so they can’t take any further money from you.

If can’t decide if you want to have Photoshop. You can use the 7 days free trial here.

Pro:

The most powerful and the best-rated photo editing software you can find. (in terms of function)

Limitless possibilities.

Add-ons are available.

There are lots of tutorials to get better.

Cons:

There is no easy and quick way to understand

Super expensive.

Bottom line:

If you just want to color correct or do other basic corrections on your pictures, you really don’t need Photoshop. But if you want to delete things out of the background and do more advanced things there is no better program.

Gimp

Gimp is an open source photo editing program it looks a lot like Photoshop and can do almost as much. It is by far not as powerful, as his expensive competition, but also costs 119.88$ less 😊. If you are just getting started, you can have a lot of free fun with it. There is only one problem you still need like in photoshop a lot of skill. You know how to accomplish what you want. You can find lots of tutorials online but not as many as for photoshop.

Pro:

It is free

It is powerful

It gets updated all the time

Cons:

It can’t keep up with photoshop

Bottom line:

Gimp is a good free alternative to Photoshop, even though it not as powerful or fast. But if you want to get started without paying a lot of money you should try it (I used to use it before I had enough money to buy Photoshop) it is very useful.

Affinity Photo

• Only 49.99$ ones 9/10 • Power 9/10 • Best place to buy affinity.serif.com • Available for Mac and PC • Bug fixes and updates included

Affinity Photo just got released in 2015 so it is easy to think that it can’t compare with Photoshop but IT CAN! It looks a lot like Photoshop which is good for everybody who already knows his way around photoshop. It has almost as many functions as his opponent and in some points, it is even better or faster for example when you try to cut out hair or automated removal. Of cause, it also has some less powerful sites like the persona workspace that would compare to adobes camera raw filter and other things like a few little bugs. Overall, I would say photoshop is still stronger but affinity photo is close to it.

The price:
You can buy affinity photo online for 49.99$ time what is making it a real first choice for a beginner If you compare it to photoshop cc (119.88$ a year) If you already have photoshop you still should think about buying it since it is only 49.99$ ones.

Affinity Photo Perspective Tool

Pro:
1. It is really cheap.
2. It is almost as powerful as Photoshop.
3. The price/performance is very good.

Cons:
1. It is not as strong as Photoshop.

Bottom line:
Affinity Photo is way cheaper than Photoshop but it has almost the same features, in my opinion, it is THE program for a beginner because it is affordable. For everybody who has photoshop already should think about to try it out, it is just really interesting. It doesn’t replace Photoshop but it comes close.

Adobe Lightroom 6

Lightroom 6 is another Adobe product. The only thing is, it is not nearly as expensive as Photoshop (but again only if you buy it on Amazon why ever) It provides you with a photo organizer a Lightroom that is comparable to Photoshop’s Camera Raw and is in opposite to photoshop, also usable on tablet and phone.😊 You cannot go totally crazy with your photo, like in photoshop or gimp and insert a nuclear explosion behind your girlfriend. But you can raw edit and really do a hell of a lot of stuff with it. I used it between gimp and photoshop (because it didn’t have enough money😝) you can even build it up with free plugins like the Nik Software Collection and it is worth its money. If you buy it the way I am going to tell you.

How to buy It Cheap:

If you want to buy Adobe Lightroom, you can buy it from the Adobe site it is 9.99$. Which is about 120$ a year what makes it for some reason a little bit more expensive than Photoshop and Lightroom together (119.88$). You are going to have bug fixes and updates like new tools. So, I would advise you to buy either Lightroom and Photoshop together for a year or buy the Lightroom 6 standalone here you only must pay 142.99$ ones and never again. You are still going to have bug fixes just no updates.

Amazon

Pro:

In my opinion: Lightroom is really good and has enough features in it unless you want to go totally crazy with your picture.

It is super easy to use and understand.

It is expendable.

It has the fast and clean Adobe algorithms.

You can even use it on your tablet if you want.

It is a one-time purchase.

Cons:

It is still a little expensive.

It doesn’t have as many possibilities as Photoshop.

Bottom line:

It is more than enough if you just want to correct or enhance your photos. If you want to do photomontage, you better stick with photoshop or gimp.

The Nik software Collection Is AWESOME and for FREE. It used to be pretty expensive, but since Google bought the company they made it for free.

So why is it so awesome? It is easy to explain you can download it as plug-in for Photoshop CS4 till CC, Photoshop Elements 9 till 13 or Lightroom 3 till 6/cc ether way it has all the functions. It uses the algorithms of Photoshop or Lightroom which means it is fast and clean looking. If you add the Niksoftware Collection to your photoshop or Lightroom you will enhance it quite a bit.

It provides you with effects inspired by traditional cameras to bring you back to the vintage age of photo development. It makes you able to quickly get the look and feel of old classic cameras, films, and lenses.

Analog Efex Pro

Color Efex Pro:

Color Efex pro is my personal favorite. It has 55 different filters that you can stack above each other to make effects that would require in photoshop a lot of time and knowledge to get done.

Color Efex Pro

Silver Efex Pro:

Silver Efex pro is the fastest way to make your picture look like it was shot in the thirty’s or just black and white. You can emulate almost 20 different popular old films and get your image just the amount of old you want.

Silver Efex Pro

Viveza:

It makes you able to Adjust you colours and tonality of your image selectively, without having to use complicated selection or masks.

Viveza

HDR Efex Pro:

Makes HDR pictures a very easy and quick thing.

HDR Efex Pro

Sharpener Pro:

Makes sharpening or bringing out hidden details, or creating a depth of field feeling very easy and quick.

Sharpener Pro

Dfine:

Helps you to de noise your image in a way you almost don’t lose any detail. It has presets to almost every camera and comes in very handy, if you had you iso turned up too far.

Dfine

Pros:

1. It makes your workflow way faster.

2. It makes a lot of functions in photoshop available to beginners.

3. It is a really powerful tool.

4. It is for free.

Cons:

1. You need Photoshop, Lightroom or Photoshop elements.

Bottom line:

It is for free and it is awesome.

I hope I was able to help you to find out what program you want to use. If you get confused, because of the prices from Adobe, I really got confused as well, but the amazon site is also owned by Adobe, so it is legit. I also tried it my self and it worked so far 😊.

If you have any kind of questions or opinions please let me know in the comments. I will get back to you in no time. 😊

14 thoughts on “The Best Rated Photo Editing Software”

Hey Aaron,
Wow been looking for some reliable photo editing software everywhere! Photoshop is super expensive and I guess they know that everyone all over the world uses it so they decided to make money off of it.

I’m thinking of doing an image editing service for people in order to get some cash, is there any place I can look for people who would use some photo editors though?

Yes, I also think that Adobe is doing that because they can… but I still thing that the really confusing and somehow scammy paying system is really annoying. If you want to offer your Editing services online, you should consider to go to https://www.fiverr.com/s2/7443d7cd2e there you can provide your service plus you don’t have any costs and your costumers are on this site as well.
I hope I was able to help you:) let me know if you have any further questions about anything and have a nice day 🙂

As a photographer I use editing software everyday. I have been a Photoshop user for many years.
I also use the Niksoftware collection.
It is probably my equal top plugin that I use along with Topaz labs.
The best thing I ever did was to sign up for an on-line Photoshop tutorial course and learn what each tool is for.

Haha yes also my two favourites,but I didnâ€™t include topaz because I tried to show some cheaper ways and it sadly also costs a lot but I am going to make psd. plug ins review probably soon and topaz is in it. And yes, A tutorial to photoshop makes absolute sense I think photoshop is a program where you never learn out.

I am totally new at the photo world and love the idea of starting out with a free program before I invest a bunch into an expensive program. I’ll try both Gimp and the Niksoftware program and decide which one I like better. Thanks for the great information! I’m excited to get editing this growing pile of photos!

Hey joy, Niksoftware is free but only a plug in for Adobe. If I would be you I would try gimp and maybe Affinity Photo since it is almost Photoshop but doesnâ€™t cost a fortune. I wish you a good editing. 🙂

I am a newbie at photography also and like the idea of starting out with a free program before I invest in an expensive program. Iâ€™ll already have Niksoftware but I am going to try Gimp also. Thanks for the great info and I look forward to trying out new editing software and comparing them.

Hey Trev I don’ know If I understand you right but when you have Niksoftware already you got to have Photoshop or light room because it is an add on for adobe. 🙂 If I would you I would try gimp and maybe also Photo affinity and if you still really want to try Niksoftware get Lightroom so you can plug it in. 🙂 I hope I understood you right and could help you. 🙂

Hey Derek thank you for your comment 🙂 If you want to be more efficient with Lightroom try Niksoftware it puts complicated multi-layer effects into one simple filter. yes I know some 🙂 one would be Calvin Hollywood here: http://bit.ly/2nwhmss he is a Absolut god when it comes to editing and Kelvin Designs here: http://bit.ly/2mYm7JZ those two make video tutorials and if you are more into reading then go here: http://bit.ly/2mbFpN4

I’m lucky to have an older version of Photoshop that I bought before the subscription method came into being. However, Photoshop is just so complicated to do anything beyond the basics. I hardly use any of its real power when editing and post processing. I’m looking for some simpler alternatives that can do some really cool stuff.

Out of your other recommendations, which one do you think would be best for professional results?

Hi Darren, I think Photo Affinity would be the best for you. It is not as complicated as Photoshop but still very strong and doesn’t nearly cost as much. I would not recommend gimp to you because it is similar complicated as photoshop (but you can give it a try since it is free anyway) 🙂 I hope I was able to help you with your problem.